Bankruptcy

Chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. said Thursday it will adjust the estimated cost of settling its asbestos-related liabilities to $2 billion from the previous estimate of $1.7 billion. The increase reflects higher estimated values of a common stock warrant and deferred payment obligations to be paid to a trust to compensate personal-injury claimants and property owners under the company's bankruptcy reorganization. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2001, partly as a result of asbestos-related lawsuits filed by residents of Libby, Mont., and others.

At the end of 2007, real estate tycoon Sam Zell took control of Tribune Co. in a deal that promised to re-energize the media conglomerate. But the company, which owns The Baltimore Sun, struggled under the huge debt burden the deal created, and less than a year later, it filed for bankruptcy. One of Chicago's most iconic companies - parent to the Chicago Tribune  - was propelled into a protracted and in many ways unprecedented odyssey through Chapter 11 reorganization. On Dec. 31, after four years, Tribune Co. finally emerged from court protection under new ownership, but at a heavy cost.

Somewhere in the third year of Tribune Co.'s marathon Chapter 11 proceeding, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey looked out at a Delaware courtroom packed with high-priced attorneys and conceded the case had broken down into what he called a "multiconstituent melee. " "The parties are represented by some of the best lawyers in the field," he said. "You know how to fight well ... but nobody ends up the better for it, really. " Carey was trying to make a point about the foundation of bankruptcy law, which recognizes that a company and its creditors are better off hammering out a settlement than fighting endless court battles.

RG Steel has filed more than 280 "clawback" suits aimed at getting companies to repay money received from the steel company in the three months before its bankruptcy. RG Steel, formed to buy the Sparrows Point mill and several other facilities in 2011, quickly became insolvent and filed for bankruptcy protection last May. When it auctioned off its mills for pennies on the dollar last summer, it had more than 1,000 creditors in and beyond the region. Now the company is seeking to have suppliers - at least some of which are also creditors - turn over payments it made to them in the 90 days leading up to its bankruptcy filing.

Mental health rehabilitation and addiction treatment center Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection because it owes more than $5.5 million to creditors and estimates its assets are less than $500,000, according to federal court filings. The center will continue to operate during the Chapter 11 restructuring, said CEO Terry T. Brown. "There's a need for us to be here," Brown said of the nonprofit company's West Pratt Street facility, on the northern edge of the Pigtown neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore.

Bob Duggan frequently refers to "our national disease-care system" when he talks about his new book, employing a term he has used across his 40-plus years as a healing-arts clinician and educator. As co-founder and former president of Tai Sophia Institute, a North Laurel graduate school of complementary medicine, wellness-based education and research, he believes that labeling our current system "health care" is a gigantic misnomer — and a point of national disgrace. In "Breaking the Iron Triangle: Reducing Health-Care Costs in Corporate America," Duggan offers a vision of a sustainable, wellness-based future in which corporations and entrepreneurs are able to slash rising health-care costs by investing in programs that focus on wellness instead of disease.

The pharmacy at the center of a fungal meningitis outbreak that has hit 19 states said Friday it has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Massachusetts. The New England Compounding Center also said it plans to establish a fund to compensate those affected by the outbreak. The outbreak has sickened 620 people and killed 39. In Maryland, 25 people have gotten ill and two have died. The outbreak is linked to three lots of a steroid injection used to treat back pain that clinics and medical facilities bought from New England Compounding Center.

The possibility that the Tribune Co. will sell its newspapers after an imminent exit from bankruptcy has set off a new round of speculation about The Baltimore Sun's future ownership - along with expressions of interest from potential buyers. Bloomberg and Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported this week that Chicago-based Tribune is preparing to sell its newspaper companies. Bloomberg said Tribune is interviewing advisers for a potential sale; Reuters said Tribune plans to focus on its television stations.

It's wonderful that in our age of instant communication, digital reality and unmanned aerial warfare, there are still those who believe in miracles. And yes, miracles are very real, though infrequent. I'm one who's also hoping for the complete recovery of Teresa Bartlinski ("Call for a miracle," Nov. 29). However, it is important to credit the "miracle" of modern science that has made this adopted girl's survival possible. I also consider it a "miracle" that the Bartlinski family can pay for all the medical care and upcoming operation out of pocket and were able to go into enormous debt doing so. It's refreshing and humbling the Bartilinski's have not relied on any help from the government or taxpayer funded programs.

Your recent article about the Hostess Inc. bankruptcy stated that the company blamed its closure on striking workers, but it failed to mention what else was happening as the company was trying to cut bakery workers' pay ("Hostess' shutdown prompts snack rush," Nov. 17). Indeed, while it was filing for bankruptcy, Hostess tripled its CEO's pay and gave significant salary increases to its top executives. That's some bad HoHo. Randi Hogan, Crownsville